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Click here for a photo gallery from Monday's unveiling of the George Jones monument. Here, Nancy Jones blows a kiss to friends during the dedication ceremony for the monument at the Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home and Memorial Park. (Photo: Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean)

He was in on the planning, agreeing last year that he’d be at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for days of rehearsals, and for dozens of interviews.

His wife and constant companion of three decades, Nancy Jones, thought it strange that her husband — normally reluctant to practice or gab — was saying a quick “yes” at each of his publicist’s numerous requests for November of 2013.

“I said, ‘Why are you agreeing to everything?’ ” Nancy Jones remembers. “He said, ‘’Cause I’m not going to be here. I’m going to agree to anything they ask. Promise me you’ll make a tribute show out of it, and I’ll see it from heaven.’ ”

Jones was 81, and he knew he was dying. And he knew, as he struggled through his concerts earlier this year, that neither his voice nor his energy was anything but the faintest echo of his remarkable prime, when he was what many swear to be the greatest and most emotionally compelling of country music artists.

He also knew that there were public whispers and a few media barbs directed at Nancy Jones: Surely, she’s just keeping him out there to pad the bank accounts. She should let that poor old man live his life out in peace.

There’s another thing George Jones knew: The only way to peace was to get on a bus, travel to Bossier City, La., or Tunica, Miss., or Knoxville, Tenn., inhale some oxygen from a tank, get on a stage and give them everything that was left of him.

With less than a week to go until Thanksgiving, it’s one of the busiest travel times of the year. As tons of holiday revelers make their way through Music City in the next week, so will more than a few music stars: rockers, rappers and country artists who are among the biggest names in their genres.

Nashville’s largest regular concert venue — Bridgestone Arena — is hosting four supersized concerts leading up to Thanksgiving Day, topping a list of musical offerings that includes several holiday concerts, club standouts and a honky-tonk block party on Lower Broad. Continue reading →

Click here for a photo gallery from Monday's unveiling of the memorial honoring the late Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones. Here, Hank Williams' daughter Jett Williams comforts Nancy Jones in front of the monument honoring her late husband after the dedication ceremony at the Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home and Memorial Park on Monday. (Photo: Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean)

Legendary country music singer George Jones’ family, friends and fans gathered Monday afternoon at Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Memorial Park for the unveiling of a monument at Jones’ graveside.

Country Music Hall of Famer Billy Sherrill, who produced numerous Jones hits, including the masterwork “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” was there to stand beside Jones’ wife, Nancy Jones, as the monument was revealed.

“His fans deserve to come out and see something a little different, to sit there on that bench and see their idol,” said Nancy Jones, just prior to the unveiling that kicked off “George Jones Week.”

The week will include star-packed Lower Broadway street parties on Thursday and Friday and a more than 120-artist mega-concert at Bridgestone Arena on Friday, billed as “Playin’ Possum! The Final NO SHOW.” The concert was designed to be Jones’ final concert of his farewell tour before his retirement, but it became a tribute after the Country Music Hall of Famer died in April.

The 7:30 p.m. concert is sold out, but Nancy Jones announced that it will be broadcast on a video screen outside Bridgestone. At the unveiling of the monument, she also announced the creation of a George Jones scholarship fund at Middle Tennessee State University.

The right side of the Woodlawn memorial is blank, reserved for Nancy Jones. The left side memorializes George Jones, who died April 26 at age 81.

“George Glenn Jones was and is ‘The King of Broken Hearts,’” it begins. “He sang of life’s hardships and struggles, in a way that somehow lightened our own.”

Country music fans who haven’t gotten enough of their favorite artists after Wednesday’s CMA Awards can head back to Bridgestone Arena Friday night to see many of the stars featured on that show and a few more on top of that.

The performer today announced the dates of her Bangerz Tour, and it includes an April 18 stop in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena.

Details follow her surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live where she crashed the stage during host Edward Norton’s monologue on Oct. 26. She plugged her Bangerz tour before breaking down for first-time-host Norton “Miley's three rules to hosting.”

One included sticking out her tongue in her now-signature pose.

Cyrus’ tour kicks off on Feb. 14 in Vancouver and will visit 38 cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and Chicago.

Good Morning America’s live street party on CMA morning featuring Luke Bryan and GMA host and Country music fan Robin Roberts, who is also presenting at the CMA. (Click the photo to see a gallery of images from the GMA live street party) Photo: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean

There was some booty shaking, music making and a whole lot of photo taking this morning as country music star and three-time CMA Awards nominee Luke Bryan performed live for Good Morning America outside Bridgestone Arena.

Hundreds of fans packed the plaza well before sunrise for an opportunity to see Bryan and Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts on stage in Nashville in advance of tonight’s CMA Awards.

“There’s a lot of magic in this city,” Bryan told Roberts on air, saying people move here and “fall in love with the dream of being a big ol’ country singer."

The entertainer of the year nominee will be back in the spotlight again Wednesday night when he kicks off the awards show, which airs at 7 p.m. live from Bridgestone Arena, with his recent No. 1 hit “That’s My Kind of Night.” Bryan will return later in the show for a second performance, the television debut of his new single, the ballad “Drink a Beer.”

The song deals with loss of a loved one and Bryan will dedicate the performance to his brother Chris, who died in 1996, and his sister Kelly, who passed away in 2007.

Click the photo above for a gallery from the the 46th Annual CMA Awards in 2012. Here, cohosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood dance "Gangnam Style" during the show, which aired live from Bridgestone Arena Nov. 2, 2012. (Photo by Larry McCormack)

Resale ticket prices for tomorrow night’s CMA Awards are at an all-time high since the event moved to Bridgestone Arena, according to data from an online ticketing search engine.

With the awards sold out, fans are turning to secondary sites to buy their tickets for the show that will air Wednesday night on ABC.

The average price to get into the award show is $423, according to SeatGeek.com, which pulls together ticket listings from major secondary websites like StubHub, TicketsNow, TicketNetwork and RazorGator so that shoppers can find the most affordable seats.

Tickets for the show -- featuring new music and all-new production – go on sale 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8 through Ticketmaster, 1-800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

Urban released his new album “Fuse” on Sept. l. The album includes Urban’s most recent No. 1 song “Little Bit of Everything” and his current Top 10 hit “We Were Us,” which is a duet with Miranda Lambert.